1.14.2013

The Bitter Sweet Cucumber

Food.

Mixing prohibition style beverages has been hobby of mine for some time now. A little while back I had posted one of my favorite drink concoctions, the Gin Germain. I put a little spin on my favorite and added an ingredient that usually goes in salads and not drinks. The cucumber. This drink is extremely refreshing; I just wish it were in the high 80s and sitting outside by the water. It's winter, so no luck with that. Instead I will sit by a warm fire and watch some travel shows.

This drink requires some muddling. Muddling is a technique used to infuse fruit or herbs into a drink. As part of your bar tools, one can own a wooden muddle or a plastic toothed muddler. Personally, I have both. The wood muddler is used for mostly herbs while the plastic version is used for thick ingredients such as fruits or veggies in my case. I'm sure you can use other tools in your kitchen drawer to muddle, but if you want to make the process of drinking your adult beverage a lot quicker, purchase an actual muddler.

The Bitter Sweet Cucumber

3 slices of English Cucumber

2 parts Gin

2 parts St. Germain (Elderflower liquor)

1 part fresh lemon juice

1 splash of lemon bitters

In a tin, muddle the cucumber until the vegetable is mashed and liquid has collected on the bottom. Measure all ingredients into the same tin and add ice. Rim outside of glass (preferably a martini glass) with lemon remnants. Shake tin and strain into the lemon rimmed glass. I even don’t mind this drink in a rocks glass without being strained. Noshing on the pulverized cucumber also counts as a snack. Enjoy!